The primary goal of the MBRS SCORE Program at Spelman College is to strengthen the existing research capabilities and infrastructure by funding the biomedical research projects of both junior and senior faculty researchers in the departments of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The specific objectives and anticipated outcomes are to: 1) progress in completing the specific aims of each funded SCORE research subproject so that 75% of each project's specific aims are completed by the end of the third year of funding; 2) increase the number of individual SCORE faculty presentations at national scientific meetings to 5 over the final three years of the funding cycle (based on an average of 4 over the period 2000-2002), and increase non-SCORE faculty presentations to 18/year based on an average of 15/year, thereby increasing research visibility; 3) increase the number of individual SCORE faculty publications in peer-reviewed journals or book chapters to 1/year over the last three years of the funding cycle (based on an average of 0.5/year during 1999-2002) based upon the accomplished research; with non-SCORE faculty publishing 9/year based on an average of 7/year; 4) increase the number of SCORE and non-SCORE faculty submitting research grants for extramural funding in the participating departments to 14/year (based on an average of 11/year during 1999-2002), by the end of the funding cycle. It is anticipated that the funding of faculty release time with support of full time research personnel for each project will give new and seasoned researchers the opportunity to begin their research careers or continue current projects. It is expected that faculty will present results at national scientific meetings and network with colleagues from other institutions to keep abreast of current techniques and theories. The anticipated increase in productivity and national exposure will allow SCORE faculty to publish their results in top-tier journals. The SCORE Program will work closely with the College's grant development infrastructure through the Spelman Center for Biomedical and Behavioral Research in order to recruit current non-MBRS faculty researchers in submitting SCORE grants in the future and to assist SCORE researchers in developing and submitting competitive research grants to other external funding agencies once funding has ended. The achievement of this goal will allow Spelman College to continue to play a leading role in supplying the nation with African American woman biomedical researchers.